Geography The Isle of Wight is situated in the
English Channel off the south coast of England. The Solent
strait, generally wide, separates it from the mainland to the north. The island measures from east to west and from north to south at its
extreme points; in total it covers . The resident population was estimated to be 139,105 in mid-2014, a slight increase on the 138,400 at the time of the
United Kingdom Census 2011. Only seven towns have a population of 6,000 or more. Ryde, whose population in 2011 was approximately 18,700, Newport, the county town, is slightly smaller (population 17,200) Cowes and East Cowes, facing each other across the Medina estuary and connected by a
chain ferry, have 14,400 and 7,800 residents respectively; Stimulated by the arrival of
the railway in 1864, Sandown (population 7,200) and the ancient village of Shanklin grew rapidly at the same time, reaching an estimated population of 7,100 by 2011.
Church history at
Chale is in the
Perpendicular Gothic style. The island was converted to Christianity in the late 7th century, although sources differ as to who was responsible: the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle identifies
Wulfhere of Mercia, but
Bede (writing in the 8th century) gives a date of 686 and names
Cædwalla of Wessex. A series of parishes were later established, some very large and spanning the whole island from north to south. By the time of the
Domesday survey in 1086 there were ten churches on the island, and some chapels originally associated with the island's many
manors became
parish churches in their own right later in the
Middle Ages. Of the churches established in the
Saxon era, only fragments remain: Arreton and Freshwater both retain structural features from that period. Likewise,
Norman churches survive only in parts, as at Shalfleet (the massive square tower), Yaverland (a "remarkable 12th-century doorway") and Wootton (where St Edmund's Church also has an intricately
moulded Norman doorway). More significant is the island's array of
Gothic church architecture—particularly that of the
Early English period. Notable Early English work can be seen in the parish churches of Brading, Calbourne and Newchurch.
Decorated Gothic features survive at Arreton and Freshwater, and there are
Perpendicular Gothic towers at Carisbrooke, Chale and Gatcombe,
arcades at Brading, Brighstone and Mottistone, and porches at Arreton, Niton and Whitwell. The 17th century was a period of church restoration and some new construction. Yarmouth (1626) retains much of its original appearance; St Mary's Church at Cowes dates from 1657 but has been rebuilt; and rebuilding of older churches took place at Newchurch, Shalfleet, Shorwell and Godshill. Monuments to prominent island families such as the
Oglander and
Worsley baronets and the
Leighs of Godshill are another important feature of this era. At several churches, though, church architecture and fittings of this era and of the 18th century was swept away amid
Victorian restoration, and the island's stock of Anglican churches grew substantially in the 19th century in line with urban growth and the splitting up of ancient parishes. New churches replaced smaller medieval buildings at St Lawrence (1878, by
George Gilbert Scott) and Bonchurch (by
Benjamin Ferrey, 1847–48) and the ruined chapel in the hamlet of Newtown (1835, by local architect
A. F. Livesay). In St Helens, the ruined Norman-era church dedicated to St Helena was replaced further inland in 1717, but the new church was rebuilt in 1829 and substantially altered and extended in 1862. Many Anglican churches on the island were either built or reconstructed in the 1850s or 1860s, mostly in a range of
Gothic Revival styles—some with distinctive features such as the tower at Whippingham, the tall spire at Holy Trinity, Ventnor and the interior of St Mary's, Cowes, where a new church with a complex
polychrome brickwork interior was grafted on to the "remarkable" tower designed by
John Nash.
Thomas Hellyer of Ryde, described by
Nikolaus Pevsner as a "very individualistic" and "remarkable" architect, was responsible for several churches in this era—both new buildings (at Bembridge, Havenstreet, Oakfield, Seaview, St Saviour's at Shanklin and the now closed Holy Trinity at Ryde) and rebuilding work (at Binstead and East Cowes).
Roman Catholic Roman Catholic churches are found in the island's towns and larger villages. Those at Cowes and Newport, both dedicated to
Saint Thomas of Canterbury, are the island's only 18th-century churches of any denomination and are nationally important because of their early dates: the
Roman Catholic Relief Act was passed in 1791, and Newport's church was built in that year, followed five years later by the Cowes church. Architecturally dissimilar, both churches were funded by Elizabeth Heneage. St Mary's Church at Ryde came next, designed by
Joseph Hansom in the 1840s, and by the early 20th century Ventnor, East Cowes, Sandown and Shanklin had their own churches. St Patrick's at Sandown survives in its original condition, The chapel at St Dominic's Priory at Carisbrooke and a now vanished
tin tabernacle at
Appuldurcombe House were also used for public worship in the early 20th century and before, and chapels at
Quarr Abbey at Binstead and
St Cecilia's Abbey at Ryde are still registered for public worship.
Nikolaus Pevsner, who was mostly dismissive of the island's 20th-century architecture, considered St Saviour's to be "the most striking" church of any denomination apart from Quarr Abbey and its chapel, which he identified as "the dominant architectural achievement" of the century.
Nonconformist Among
Nonconformist groups, Methodism is particularly prominent. Its history on the island can be traced back to 1735, when
John and
Charles Wesley visited and Charles preached at Cowes; John's subsequent visits included a trip in 1781 to open a chapel in Newport. Six years later the first permanent preacher was appointed: originally a Wesleyan, Mary Toms joined the
Bible Christian Methodists in 1817, and the Isle of Wight "[became] a stronghold of the Bible Christian movement". By
1851, when a religious census was carried out in the United Kingdom, the movement had 26 places of worship. Many old chapels built by the Bible Christians survive, for example at Brading (where Toms herself founded a "preaching house" in 1837), and Newport (1879–80). A few
Primitive Methodist chapels were also built, although none remain in Methodist use. Examples include Newport (now used by the Salvation Army), Ryde and Sandown (1866). New Methodist chapels were built throughout the 20th century, for example in Lake (a "stylish, typically late 1950s" building) and Brighstone (1999), and in 2014 a new church opened at Freshwater to serve that village and nearby Totland.
Other Christian denominations In the 20th century a greater variety of
Christian denominations began to be represented, mainly in the island's towns. Pentecostal churches of various types can be found in Newport, Ryde and Sandown; Spiritualists worship in Cowes (where a congregation has met since the 1930s), Ryde and Ventnor; Quakers, the Salvation Army and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have premises in Newport; and there are four Kingdom Halls of Jehovah's Witnesses. There are also various gospel halls and Evangelical and non-denominational churches, some of which occupy former chapels built by other communities. For example, Zion Chapel in Swanmore and the Avenue Road Evangelical Church in Sandown were originally mid-19th-century Wesleyan chapels; the Ryde premises of the Grace Church IoW was built as the Elmfield Congregational Church; and in Cowes, The Community Church – IoW occupies a former Church of England mission hall.
Fabric of buildings Sandstone is the Isle of Wight's most important building material.
Upper Greensand formations were found in several parts of the southern half of the island, particularly the Undercliff area near Ventnor, and were extracted for centuries until supplies became exhausted in the 19th century. Until the 16th century it was used almost exclusively for churches, both on the island and elsewhere in southern England.
Limestone was quarried extensively from the
Bembridge Beds off the island's east coast, and from deposits around Ryde, Binstead and Gurnard, from Saxon times until the Victorian era. A harder, more durable but scarcer variety ("Quarr stone") was used in the island's Saxon churches, and evidence of this survives at Freshwater and Arreton. More common within these quarries was the less solid "Binstead stone", which occurs in many churches on the island and was still used around Ryde during the town's Victorian expansion. In contrast to other
downland areas of southern England,
flint was used rarely because better quality stone was so readily available. Historic England, the body responsible for listed buildings and other heritage assets in England, also publishes an annual "
Heritage at Risk Register"—a survey of assets at risk through decay, damage and similar issues. The Anglican churches identified as at risk in the latest update were St Mary's Church in Cowes (affected by ingress of water), St James's Church in East Cowes (damp and structural problems), All Saints Church in Godshill (decaying stonework), St Thomas's Minster in Newport (decaying stonework and roofs), St John the Baptist's Church in Niton (decaying stonework, roof damage and ingress of water), St John's Church in Sandown (decaying stonework and ingress of water), the Church of St Saviour-on-the-Cliff in Shanklin (severe
salt spalling of stonework and damage to windows), St Paul's Church in Shanklin (decaying stonework and timberwork and damage to windows) and Holy Trinity Church in Ventnor (decaying stonework). The Catholic Church of St Mary in Ryde is at risk due to water ingress. ==Religious affiliation==